ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 891
http://www.s-gabriel.org/891
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* NOTE: Some of the Academy's early reports     *
*       contain errors that we haven't yet      *
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From: 
21 Apr 1998

Greetings,

Here's the information we found on "Eoin MacLachlann," which you wanted to
use as a Scottish Gaelic name from around 1570.

In your period, there were two major languages in Scotland--Gaelic,
which is spoken in both Ireland and Scotland; and Scots, a language
cloely related to English.  Generally speaking, Gaelic is the language
of the highlands and Scots is the language of the lowlands.

Scots and Gaelic have totally different spelling rules, and so the
same name would be recorded in two totally different ways in these
languages.  Thus when we design a Scottish Gaelic name, we need to
find the pronunciation, the Scots written forms, and the Gaelic
written forms.

<Eoin> is the Scottish Gaelic form of <John> for your period.  It is
pronounced \OAN\ or \YOAN\ (rhymes with "moan").  In Scots, it usually
appears as <Johne> or <Johnne>. (1,2)

<mac Lachlann> is a Scottish Gaelic name.  It is not a clan
name--in period, names starting with <mac> meant "son of" in a literal
sense.  So <mac Lachlann> does not mean "member of the clan
Maclachlann," but "a man whose father is named Lachlann."  However,
<mac Lachlann> is a fairly common Gaelic name.  It is prounced \mahk
LAHKH-lahn\ (where \kh\ is a kind of "throat-clearing" noise).  There
are many Scots forms including: (1)

* Makclachlane 1553
* M'Clachlene 1590
* Makclauchlane 1591
* M'Lawchtlane 1558
* Maklawchlane 1548

Thus, your name would be pronounced \OAN mahk LAHKH-lahn\.  In Gaelic
it would be spelled <Eoin mac Lachlann> and in Scots it could be
spelled in any of the ways we've mentioned above.

Talan Gwynek, Arval Benicoeur, and Effric neyn Kenyeoch vc Ralte
contributed to this letter.

We hope this has been helpful, and that we can continue to assist you.

In service,
Alan Fairfax
Academy of S. Gabriel

(1) Black, George F., _The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning and 
History_, (New York: The New York Public Library, 1986). 

(2) --, The manuscript Aberdeen Council Registers, Volumes 8 - 20